Paper Flowers
by Tabetha Winters
Summary: -AU- They never really got to know one another because he refused to get to know her. They lived side by side for years and she watch him dispite him brushing her off. So why is she still interested in the boy, and why can't she stop wondering about him?
1. Paper Flowers

Paper Flowers

Summery: They never really got to know one another because he refused to get to know her. They lived side by side for years and she watch him and he'd brush her. So why is she still interested in the boy, and why can't she stop wondering about him?

* * *

She always figured him as strange, from the day that she tried to shove her cat though the doggy door that they had on their front door and he had pulled the door open with some strange mask on his face. After a quick brush off he had shut the door in her face leaving her and her cat alone on the front pouch. In a huff she left the steps and returned home. 

However, it didn't calm her interest in the blue hair boy. There was something about him. He'd often talk to himself in his backyard mumbling something about a critter name Bombo who had knocked something else over and now he was going to get blamed for it. Or something like that. She was sure that he was crazy. However, this didn't stop her.

Her first couple of years that she lived next door to that boy she wonder what he was like and how come people at school didn't talk to him. They called him crazy and weird and something like his mother was ashamed of him that's why no one was allowed over but she had often saw him mother and she seemed very happy with her son. They'd work together in the yard in her small flower garden spending time laughing together enjoying one another company. So their had to be another reason.

_I linger in the doorway  
Of alarm clock screaming monsters  
Calling my name  
Let me stay  
Where the wind will whisper to me  
Where the raindrops as they're falling tell a story_

Years went by and the kids grew themselves moving on from their elementary years to middle school and yet, she still found herself fascinated with this boy, she often would watch him, the boy next door be alone and she often tried to befriend him but still he'd still react the same giving her a smile and a simple brush off.

Disgruntled she didn't give up however, had her own distraction come along as she grew in popularity; she had many friends Patty, Mattie, and Annie and most of their friends half of which their names she didn't know or really could remember. Mattie had often called their group the 'pink ladies' after the Grease move they had seen Mattie's older sister watch a million times whenever they'd come over and for some reason Elena loved it. Wearing designer jackets that Mattie's mother had made them; she couldn't forget the other kids faces when they walked into school that next morning all wearing the same jacket with pink ladies written on the back in yellow stitching.

However, she couldn't get her fascination off the boy next door. There was something diffent about him. Something beyond the small sad smiles he'd give in return to the ones that he gave her in passing in the hallways. She seemed to feel her sadden fall for the boy.

More as more time passed and her attention soon drew from the boy as she soon became poplar with other guys as well. Nearing high school now she knew her life in the 'pink ladies', was causing all kinds of havoc in the school. The pockets of new leather jackets that her mother had invested in were lined with paper flowers were their trade mark; which were often given to boys that the 'pink ladies' often though were cute or some one they would like to date. Everyone had made one. Everyone but her.

_In my field of paper flowers  
And candy clouds of lullabies  
I lie inside myself for hours  
And watch my purple sky fly over me_

Lying in her bed that night she couldn't sleep. Thought of her friends were rush though her head. The voices of her friends echoing in her head as she rolled over and over again in her small bed.

"Why haven't you pick a guy yet?" came the voice of Mattie and she rolled over again feeling small tears start to brim at her eyes.

"Yeah I mean we've all picked out our guys and given them out flowers a long time ago." Came the voice of Mattie's friend Chelsea and she kicked at her covers using her pillow to cover her head to try to block the voices.

"Your going to end up alone." The voice of Pattie echoed to her. Sitting up she gripped her head and she couldn't help but feel the tears spill over.

"Alone forever." Came the voice of Lisa with a sense of teasing to it. She began to sob loudly and she could hear another cold voice echo to her.

"It's not our fault when you're unhappy!" she heard Summer exclaimed she couldn't help but want to kill her friends.

"STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!" she screamed softly tossing her pillow and everything off her bed; jumping to her feet she tired to stumbled around the room to get away from the voice however, eyes were swollen from all the tears and when she came in contact with something she felt herself topple over and the chair that she had ran into fell next to her.

Her breathing was uneven as she lay on the floor. A soft knocking sound came at the door and she looked up hearing the sound of her mother on the other side.

"Is everything alright?" came her mothers soft voice and she could tell that it was full of sleep, she must had woken her mother up when her screaming and she couldn't help but feel the regret wash over her as she stared at the oak door of her bedroom.

"I'm fine sorry mom." Came the short reply and when she heard the sound of her mother's retreating footsteps she felt a wave of relief fall over her. Getting to her feet she set up her chair again noticing her pink ladies jacket resting on it. Sighing she reached in and pulled out an origami flower that she had made while she was bored in class one day. Walking back over to her bed she sighed opening the window. Placing the flower on the ledge she lay down in bed and watched it till she fell asleep. Little did she know that the flower had flown off the ledge and into the night sky.

_Don't say I'm out of touch  
With this rampant chaos, Your reality  
I know well what lies beyond my sleeping refuge,  
The nightmare, I built my own world to escape._

Two years had passed since her friends had pestered her about giving a flower to a boy and she had almost been given hope that they had just giving up on that stupid flower tradition. However, she still had not given up on figuring out about the mysterious life of the boy next door to her house.

He had become quite remorse hanging out with two other guys from school that had been rejected on their attempts to woo Pattie and Mattie and had often been used in several cruel and crushing jokes between them. She found them in bad taste however, she laughed alone with them to keep her image up. Ford and Soup we're their name, they weren't bad guys, a little weird and obsessed with scaring the life out of people but they weren't bad guys. She often felt sorry for them and him as well. They were classified as the loners, the losers and were often picked on my Mattie's, Patties, Lisa's, Summer's and Chelsea's boyfriend who had conveniently named themselves the T-Bones after the group that were the Pink Ladies boyfriends in the movies. How lame could they get?

However, this didn't stop the T-Bones from giving their little group daily beatings and tossing spit balls against their heads in math class when the teacher wasn't looking. She hated this, all she wanted was her original group of friends that she had began to hang out with when she was in elementary school not the group of friends that had become the terror of the high school if giving the wrong look or parked in their parking spot.

_In my field of paper flowers  
And candy clouds of multiply  
I lie inside myself for hours  
And watch my purple sky fly over me_

The last year of high school flew by and a couple of weeks before she was to graduate the greatest day of her life occurred; the day that her life in the pink ladies would be over. She had gotten into Harvard Medical School all her life she had dreamed of becoming a doctor. While all her friends had decided that they were going to go into beauty school. That wasn't her life. Doing hair? She hatred doing her own hair why would cosmetology interest her?

Their family had made a trip to Harvard twice during her last week of school, she had gotten a small one bedroom dorm only a block away from the medical building on campus and she could ride her bike during good days and catch the shuttle on bad. Fifth floor, great view of the campus and it was all hers. However, returning home was a difficult challenge. Her interest over the years about the young boy next door had never died, however, he wasn't a boy anymore, he had become a man, a very attractive man and yet, she had never gotten to know him.

_Swallowed up in the sound of my screaming  
Cannot cease for the fear  
Of silent nights  
Oh how I long for the deep sleep dreaming  
The goddess of imaginary light_

Graduation was a beautiful ceremony, she was name valedictorian of the graduating class of 2010 and after giving her fifteen minute speech she had stepped off the stage and back into the group of her peers.

After the ceremony they had return back to their house after long weepy goodbyes from all her friends that she'd promised she write. However, she never would. She had to get home, she was leaving tonight, she had done most of her packing before she left for the ceremony and upon returning home change out of her robes and into a comfortable pair of short and a small t-shirt and began to carry her bags downstairs. Upon loading things into her mother's car she was about to head into the house again when suddenly a voice behind her caught her attention.

"So your leaving."

_In my field of paper flowers  
And candy clouds of multiply  
I lie inside myself for hours  
And watch my purple sky fly over me_

She turned around and came face to face with her object of fascination over the years, the boy next door.

"Yes." Came her soft cracking voice and he couldn't help but smile at her as she tired her best to catch a bag that had fallen out of the car. He caught it with one hand and was able to get it sitting up right again without much effort and she felt a small blush occur at his actions. This is the first time in years that she had seen him so close up before and she couldn't realize that he was quite handsome his soft eyes staring at hers, his voice so close to hers and…

"Hey!" he replied catching her attention again and she could feel herself blush as he looked at her.

"Sorry, I'm just tried from graduation." Came her short reply which she knew he'd never buy but it was worth a shot.

"Yeah I understand."

They stood in silence for a few minutes but her mind was screaming at her, she had so many questions to ask him and yet she couldn't form the words.

"I guess I better let you finish packing." He voice came but she couldn't' let him leave, she had been wanting to talk to him for years and yet now she had her chance and she couldn't do anything.

"Wait!" she replied quickly causing him to turn to her.

"What?"

"I've…" she began softly feeling tears start to brim at her eyes, "I've wanted to get to know you for years, please this may be our last chance, please I at least want to know that we can leave on good terms."

He started at her trying to figure out if what she was saying was a joke or not but after a second reached out his hand to hers.

"Let's just start over from the beginning. Forget everything that's happen and start over, I'm Zick Barrymore, I've lived next door to your for years we went to the same elementary, junior and high school together, and now I'm off to college much like you…"

She felt herself smile as she extended her hand to his and shook it with a small amount of force.

"I'm Elena Potato, but don't call me potato I hate that name, yes we did go to the same schools together and I was in some looser gang called the pink ladies which jacket I'm ready to burn, its nice to meet you Zick."

A small smiled appeared at his lips as they shook hands and they would have stayed like this for a minute till the voice of her mother irrupted them.

"Ellie, honey I've got your last bag its time to go."

"Alright." She called.

Zick pulled away from her and smiled softly running on of his hands though his hard making it even more of a mess then it already was. She smiled back at him.

"Well good luck where ever your going and I hope that you have a great life."

"Yeah you too Zick." She replied and upon pulling something out of her pocket she placed it in his hand and a kiss on his cheek.

"I don't know if you remember, but my stupid gang that I was apart of gave paper flowers to the guys that they like and well I guess mine belongs to you."

He didn't say anything and she smiled climbing into the car and they pulled out of the driveway leaving Zick there waving at them as their car entered the street and drove away.

_In my field of paper flowers  
And candy clouds of multiply  
I lie inside myself for hours  
And watch my purple sky fly over me  
_  
--

Zick stood on the side walk for a little while longer the flower that was made out of pink paper in his hand. He looked at it again upon flipping it over it had Elena's curry handwriting on it. A small smile fell out of his eyes as he noticed the writing on the flower and upon placing it in his pocket her walked home thinking about the words that she had written to him.

_I wanted you to know, I was always curious about you; I didn't know that curiosity could turn to love. I sorry we never had a chance together but if you'd like to pick up where we left off you can always give ourselves that chance._

_Love,_

_Elena Potato_

_P.S. 145 Shattuck St. Room 534 B  
Boston, MA 02115-6092_

* * *

This is me listening to too much Evanescence and being in a story writing mood. Anyways I hope this wasn't too hard to read because I didn't mention their names till the end of the story. I wanted to keep everything a mystery from on another till they actually spoke to one another at the end. Anywas I really hope that you liked it and there is a second part coming but its not going to be as long. Maybe barely a page because its going to be more of an epolog (sp?). So please comment and tell me what you think. Please! 


	2. Epilogue

_Epilogue_

Elena had made herself at home almost instantly in this small apartment of hers. She loved it, only a block away from the Harvard Medical Building where most of her classes would be taking place and it had a great view of the campus.

She had almost made herself at home that afternoon. Most of the boxes had been unpacked and she had most of what she unpacked put away. Right now she was just ready for a break. After cooking herself a small bag of popcorn she made her way over to the couch. A small TV sat opposite her and just as she was about to turn it on a small knocking sound was heard at her door.

She groaned slightly getting to her feet and making her way to the door. Some of her neighbors in the building noticed her moving in a couple of days ago and she figure this was the welcoming committee ready to bring her in and go on and on about how great this building was.

Upon reaching the door she pulled it open and was shocked when she noticed that no one was standing there. Looking up and down the hallways she sighed and was about to shut the door when she noticed something lying by her feet. A small paper flower.

Giving it a quizzical look she bent down and picked it up cradling the flower in her hand as if it was a small gem to be treasured. This flower looked so familiar almost identical to the one that she had given Zick the day she left.

Shutting the door to her apartment she made her way over to her couch again and looked at the flower. Turning it open she noticed soft curvy writing on the other side. Her eyes ran across the words and when she was finished it brought tears to her eyes. Another knocking sound was heard at the door and she rush over opening it and noticing Zick standing there with a small smile on his face.

"Hi Elena," was all he was able to get out before the girl crushed him in a hug. They stood like that for a while just basking in the warmth of the other not noticing the paper flower that lay on the floor by the couch reading.

_Elena,_

_You said you were always curious about me, well I could say the same about you, you never ceased to amaze me and everything about you was so wonderful that I found myself before I knew it falling for you. I would love another chance to get to know you and I'm sure that if you're willing to have me I'll be here for you always._

_Love always,_

_Zick_


End file.
